The present invention relates to explosive containment systems and, more particularly, to a ballistic cover system that embodies a novel apparatus and method for containing energy and fragmentation projected during a supercharged engine explosion.
Supercharged engines, such as the Roots type supercharger, frequently explode during competition, in part because of the use of nitro-methane fuel. When supercharged race engines explode the resulting energy and projected fragmentation poses a sever risk of personal injury and mechanical damage. Currently, containment covers used to control such explosions fail to fully contain such energy and fragmentation. Current containment covers, partly because of the confined space available around a competitive supercharged race engine, are compromised in terms of their location and/or positioning when installed. And when operative, current containment covers do not respond or move properly during the impact thus allowing energy and fragmentation to circumvent containment, and so do not fully dissipate the energy. Moreover, current containment systems tend to be rigid in composition and/or attachment, making installation, removal and replacement time intensive.
As can be seen, there is a need for a ballistic cover system that embodies a novel apparatus and method for containing energy and fragmentation projected during a supercharged engine explosion, whereby the ballistic cover system enables the novel apparatus to react to the engine explosion, positioning itself from a racing configuration to a ballistic configuration.